A Wonderful Story, With a Lesson

Congratulations are in order for editing client Jacob Singer, who has just released the e-book version of his new book, The Vase with the Many Coloured Marbles!

With a title that's a metaphor for the country of South Africa, the book is actually two books in one. Book 1 is about Emma, a young woman from Cape Town, South Africa during the rise of the government's apartheid laws. It's a fascinating look at how those laws affected real people, something you won't read in the history books. But Emma wants to escape from the social norms of her class that are every bit as restrictive as the official race laws. The two are so intertwined that she must leave her home and forge a new life for herself to escape them. Emma's views on South Africa's leadership and social makeup are extremely poignant, and as relevant in today's world as they were in hers.

In Book 2 the story continues, centered around Emma's daughter, Marla. The characters are based on the author and people he knew while growing up in Potchefstroom, South Africa. Will Marla ever find out her mother's secret? Will Josh ever love anyone but her? Will she follow Emma's example and get involved in changing her country, or merely observe from the sidelines? And what will become of Emma? All are answered by the end of Book 2: Marla.

The questions this book will raise for you, however, are many. What do you really know about apartheid? For most Americans, the answer is probably little more than the name of Nelson Mandela (with only a vague idea of his role), or a foggy view of really ugly racist attitudes. But it went much further than that, dictating where people could live, the types of employment they could seek, where they could travel, and the type of education they could get. Entire cities were structured around the country's racial profiling. People arrested for violating the apartheid laws spent real time in prison, just for trying to live their lives in freedom and seek a better life for themselves and their families. Those who worked to overturn the laws were often the targets of terrorist tactics, as you'll see in the book. It was a fearful, brutal time, yet also one when a good person's true character could soar to greatness. The racism that existed in America during the Jim Crow era was mild in comparison to South Africa under apartheid.

So if you want a good story that will open your eyes to life at another time in another part of the world, download a copy of The Vase with the Many Coloured Marbles for your Kindle, iPad, or computer. And watch for the printed version of the book, soon to come. I certainly enjoyed editing it, and you'll enjoy the read. (You've gotta love that British spelling in the title, too!)